PHILADELPHIA – Five students represented Summitview Elementary School of Waynesboro for being one of the top 10 schools honored as an official Governor’s Breakfast Champion in Philadelphia. The recognition event, co-hosted by the American Dairy Association Northeast (ADANE), was held Sept. 23 at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles. Out of hundreds of schools across Pennsylvania, Summitview was one of only 68 that successfully completed the Governor’s School Breakfast Challenge.
A total of 97 percent of Pennsylvania schools offer free breakfast as part of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2026-27 budget, which includes funding for universal free school breakfast for a fourth consecutive year. The initiative helps ensure Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million students continue to receive free breakfast at school, regardless of income.
Goals of the Challenge include increasing participation in the free breakfast program, which offers hot, nutritious morning meals to all students in the Waynesboro Area School District, and prioritizing food options that are locally sourced and lower in added sugars, according to Ashley Rock, the district’s food service director. “That’s what we’re going for – to help them eat healthier. And we don’t want anyone to be hungry,” added Rock, who accompanied the students to Philadelphia.
As part of the Challenge, Summitview students, fourth-grader Brayden Arnold, and fifth-graders Rylie Shaw, Easton Bosso, Gabe Beeler and Liv Kaylor volunteered to be guest servers in the Summitview kitchen at various times over a three-month period. They were supervised by the kitchen staff at the school.
At the Challenge, the students were treated to breakfast and remarks from Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe, Agriculture Deputy Secretary for Farm, Food, and Market Access Heidi Secord, and a representative of The American Dairy Association North East, and Eagles legend Jason Avant. There were photo opportunities with Eagles cheerleaders and SWOOP, the Eagles mascot, Rock said.
“We sampled five different recipes that schools submitted for the challenge. At the end of the event we were taken on a tour of the stadium with stops in the locker room, press conference room and even stepping out onto the field,” she added. “The kids had a blast.”
In addition to Rock, other district representatives traveling to Philadelphia with the Summitview students were: Selina Lowry, kitchen manager at Summitview, Casey Hedrick, physical education teacher at Summitview and Hooverville elementary schools; Kate Davenport, guidance counselor at Summitview; and Waynesboro Area Middle School Assistant Principal Mark Klink, who was acting principal at Summitview when the Challenge was held.
